Gnac

In a match that will likely go a long way towards determining the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title, the UAA Seawolves controlled play from start to finish and swept Western Washington, 25-12, 25-23, 25-15 Thursday night to move into a tie for the conference lead.  UAA improves to 9 and 2 in league play, even with Seattle Pacific atop the standings.  The Vikings drop to 9 and 3 in the GNAC. Jackie Matthisen led the Seawolves with 12 kills, but it was far from a singular effort.  UAA showed balance throughout, with Robyn Burton, Ariel Austin, and Nikkie Viotto all contributing 8 kills.

The UAA volleyball team moved one victory away from securing a second conference title in three years by sweeping St. Martin's, 25-22, 26-24, 25-7 on Thursday night.  The win gives the Seawolves a 14-3 mark in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. UAA is now tied for first place with Seattle Pacific with one match to play, but the Seawolves own the tiebreaker edge against the Falcons.  If the Seawolves claim the GNAC title, they win also earn the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Division II tournament.  Against St. Martin's, Jackie Matthisen led the UAA offense with 13 kills while Robyn Burton had seven blocks.  Setter Kimya Jafroudi contributed 38 assists as the Seawolves pulled ahead in the third after an evenly played first two games.

The University of Alaska Anchorage’s men’s basketball team had their 12-game win streak snapped by Western Washington University in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game Saturday. Despite a 27-point effort by the Seawolves’ Taylor Rohde, the Vikings scored 21 points from Michael Duty in their 81-75 win. Meanwhile, the the 11th-ranked UAA women suffered a shocker of a loss at the hands of Saint Martin’s. Hanna Johansson tried to do her part with 14 points and eight rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Seawolves’ 61-53 loss.

University of Alaska Anchorage coach Tim Moser was looking for a little more offense over the weekend -- and that's what he got out of Kodiak native Alysa Horn, who was selected as the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s Player of the Week. For her performance in the AT&T Classic, Horn averaged 14.5 points, eight rebounds, and 2.5 steals per game as the No. 12 Seawolves trounced Minot State and highly regarded Dixie State. UAA is still out of conference this week to face Chaminade Friday and Saturday.

The UAA Volleyball team will be among the favorites to win the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title in 2011; just not the singular favorite. The Seawolves, under fourth year head coach Chris Green, have been picked to finish third in the preseason GNAC coaches poll.  UAA returns four of six starters from a team that finished 18 and 9 last season and made a second straight NCAA Division II tournament.  Defending co-league champions Seattle Pacific and Western Washington are first and second in the poll.

The University of Alaska Anchorage volleyball team brings back four players from last season's GNAC championship squad -- and four is also the number of GNAC coaches who believe UAA will be able to repeat as conference champs. The GNAC preseason coaches’ poll was released Tuesday, and the coaches think the Seawolves will finish second this season, but it was a close vote. Western Washington’s Vikings, at No. 1 in the poll, received the same number of first place votes as the Seawolves but got five more total points to edge out UAA. The University of Alaska Fairbanks comes in at No. 8 in the preseason rankings.

The tallest player on the UAA men's basketball team also rises above the rest of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  6-9, 255 pound center Taylor Rohde has been selected as GNAC Player of the Year in a vote by league coaches.  Rohde led the conference in scoring, averaging 20.2 points per game, as well as field goal percentage ( 62.7 percent ).  When he's not scoring, Rohde's inside presence consistently leaves shooters wide open, a big reason why UAA finished the regular season second in the league standings at 15-3 in conference and 21-5 overall.  Rohde and the Seawolves earn a first round bye in this week's GNAC tournament and will face either Central Washington or Seattle Pacific in Friday's league semifinals.  UAA guard Travis Thompson, who ranks second on the team with 11.3 points per game, was named to the All-GNAC second team.       

The UAA women's basketball team showed the poise of a champion in Wednesday's semifinals of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournament. The Seawolves rallied from a 19-point second-half deficit to knock off Seattle Pacific, 68-66. The win qualifies UAA for the GNAC title game on Saturday at Western Washington. Alysa Horn, Hanna Johansson, and Kaitlin McBride all scored 15 points for the Seawolves, who trailed 45-26 with a little less than 18 minutes remaining. UAA gradually cut into the deficit and took its first lead of the second half on Kaylie Robison's basket with 1:01 left.

On Saturday, the UAA women's track and field team claimed the program's first outdoor crown at the GNAC Championships.  With a team score of 169, the Seawolves were able to dethrone the 3-time defending team champion Seattle Pacific.  The men finished with 129 team points, good for a 4th place finish. Leading the way for the ladies with individual titles were Ruth Keino in the 5K and 10K, Susan Tanui in the steeplechase, Grace Morgan in the 100m and 200m, Karolin Anders high jump, and Haleigh Lloyd in the 400m hurdles.

The Seawolf track & field program is off to a flying start at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships in Monmouth, Ore. UAA swept the titles in Friday's 10,000 meters, while junior Susan Tanui picked up a first and a second place result in distance races contested only a few hours apart. Tanui collected the win in the women's steeplechase with a time of 10:41.88 to pace three UAA women in the top seven. In the men's steeplechase, Dylan Anthony led UAA with a fourth-place showing.

The University of Alaska Anchorage has announced it's 2013 volleyball schedule.  Seawolves begin pre-season play August 24th with their annual Green & Gold Intrasquad match.  The team heads into regular season competition September 5th, with their annual season-opening tournament at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex. The Seawolves are scheduled to play 14 regular season home matches. Rival Seattle Pacific visits to kick off the Great Northwest Athletic Conference campaign on September 19th, and November highlights visits from Alaska Fairbanks and defending GNAC champion Western Washington.

The Seawolf men's basketball team knew it would have a difficult time making the NCAA Division II tournament after losing their GNAC quarterfinal game on a buzzer beating shot.  As it turns out, the Seawolves fears have been realized as UAA has been left out of the eight team west region tournament announced by the NCAA on Sunday night.  UAA finishes the season 18-9 overall, 11-7 in conference play.  Only two GNAC schools have advanced.  Those...

Central Washington's Mark McLaughlin sank a game-winning three-pointer as time expired to deal the UAA men's basketball team a crushing 79-78 defeat in Thursday's quarterfinals of the GNAC tournament.  UAA led by 18 points at halftime, and despite giving that lead away, they had just gone ahead, 78-76 on Jalen Little's basket with less than five seconds to go. UAA came into the tournament holding the 8th and final position in the all-important...

The UAA women's basketball team saw its two-year reign in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference postseason tournament come to an end.  The season itself is likely over as well. The Seawolves fell to Northwest Nazarene, 65-60 in Wednesday's quarterfinal round of the GNAC tournament.  UAA entered the week ranked outside the top 10 in the Division II west region, needing a deep conference tournament run to become one of the eight qualifiers for the NCAA tournament. Alysa Horn scored 20 points, while Sasha King added 17 points on five three-pointers, but UAA turned it over 24 times in the loss.  UAA had won its previous seven games to reach 17 wins on the season.

Three members of the UAA women's basketball team have received postseason honors from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  Guard Jessica Madison earns the conference Freshman of the Year award, while forward Alysa Horn and point guard Sasha King make second team all-GNAC distinction in a vote by league coaches. Madison averaged 9.7 points per game for the Seawolves, who have won seven straight games entering the conference tournament opener against Northwest Nazarene on Wednesday.  She also started 17 of 26 games and shot 83% from the free throw line.

UAA Seawolf junior Kyle Fossman has been honored with first-team selection to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball team, while sophomore Teancum Stafford was voted second team All-GNAC. Fossman, a 6-0 guard, leads the Seawolves and ranks seventh in the conference with 14.9 points per game.  He has also made 44 percent of his three-pointers.  A native of Haines, Alaska, Fossman has scored double figures in 20 of his 24 games this season.  Stafford, a 6-5 swingman, is just behind Fossman for the team lead with 14.4 points per game.  The transfer from Snow College in Utah has scored in double figures in 11 straight games, and led UAA's furious comeback from 22 points down to beat Montana State-Billings on Saturday.  Stafford's three-pointer with 6.7 seconds left gave the Seawolves a 71-69 win. The Seawolves, ranked ninth in the NCAA Division II west region, open the GNAC tournament Thursday against Central Washington.

Down 37-15 in the first half, and still trailing by 10 with five and a half minutes to go, the UAA men's basketball team pulled out a potentially season-saving win, 71-69 on Saturday night against Montana State-Billings.  The Seawolves finish the regular season 11 and 7 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, and prevent the Yellowjackets from tying them for third in the final conference standings. Teancum Stafford hit the go-ahead three pointer with 6.7 seconds to play to put UAA up by two.  In all, Stafford played a huge role during the Seawolves' late rally, scoring nine of his 16 points in the final 2:25.

Entering the week holding the eighth and final position in the all-important west region rankings, the UAA men's basketball team knew it could ill afford a loss to Simon Fraser, the last place team in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  The Seawolves delivered, leading by as many as 18 in the first half of a 78-68 win.  Liam Gibcus netted 20 points while Jalen Little added 19 for the Seawolves, who are now 17-6 overall, and 10-5 in league...